76 TRUCK-FARMING AT THE SOUTH. 



lulls before morning. No reliance can be placed upon 

 warm weather at the time of rain; for the rapid fall of 

 the thermometer under the above circumstances, is some- 

 times astonishing. Thus after a rain at one o'clock P. 

 M. of April 3rd, 1879, the thermometer stood here (Wil- 

 mington Island) at 75 F., and under the prevalence of 

 a north-west wind during the evening and early night, it 

 fell 36, giving us a killing frost on the morning of the 

 4th, at 39 at sunrise. Frost occurred also on the 

 fifth and sixth, at 39. 



Among the many creatures that, like the swallow, have 

 been thought to announce the advent of spring, I consider 

 the appearance of the Tumble-bug (Ateuchus pilularius) 

 and the Whip-poor-will, or Chuck-will's-widow, the most 

 trustworthy. I have rarely known a frost to occur after 

 hearing the voice of this bird in proclamation of the 

 spring. 



Below is a table of last frosts of the spring for a num- 

 ber of successive years on this and the adjacent Island of 

 Whitemarsh, taken from the diary of the late R. T. 

 Gibson, who kept a meteorological record for the Smith- 

 sonian Institute. 



1835. March 29th, cold wind from the N. W.; March 

 30th, frost; April 7th, said to have been frost, but saw 

 none. 



1836. March 21st, rain; 22d, cold; 23d, frost. 



1837. March 4th, snow, five inches deep; April 7th, 

 rain; 9th, wind N. W. ; 10th, frost. 



1838. March 18th, cloudy; 19th, clear and cold. 



1839. March 5th, wind N.; 6th, sleet; 30th, rain, 

 wind N. ; March 31st, sleet and rain. 



1840. March 12th, rain; 13th, wind N. W., frost; 

 March 25th, rain, wind W. ; 26th and 27th, frost. 



1841. March 16th, rain and hail; 17th, wind N. W.; 

 18th, frost; 20th, frost; April 14th, light frost, 



1842. February 21st, cloudy; 22d, wind 1ST. W.; 23d, 



